It all started with a duel, around 1560 A.D. On one side was Jean-Philippe de Bourbon de Navarre, Count of Clermont and believed to be the nephew of the then King of France, Henry IV. On the other side, was a Gascon aristocrat.
Jean-Phillipe won the duel, but lost his place in France, for killing the aristocrat. He was forced to flee, so he dashed into a boat from the Mediterranean. What followed was a long and fascinating journey, that intertwined France’s royal Bourbon family with that of the Begums of Bhopal. Many centuries have passed, and houses rose and fell. But the story and its details are relevant if the claim of the Bhopal-based lawyer is taken up.
France has no king today, but if it did, an Indian could be among its top contenders. The same could apply for the position in Spain, as well. But to reach this point, Jean-Philippe’s journey must be told.
Hoping to make his way to Portugal, he was captured by Turkish pirates. They took him prisoner and sold him at Egypt to the Ottoman ruler, Sultan Soliman the Magnificent. Soliman liked Jean-Philippe, seeing nobility in him, and gave him a high position. But empires fall, and so did the Ottoman rule in Egypt. Jean-Philippe was imprisoned by Soliman’s successor and shared his cell with Abyssinian (Ethiopian) Christians.
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